1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally to a printer or copier toner station and in particular to a developer station with a cross-conveyance means and a dosing means which is supplied by an intermediate receptacle, whereby a toner box opens into the intermediate receptacle at a first end of the receptacle, and toner in the intermediate receptacle is conveyed via a conveyance path across the entire printing width from the first end of the intermediate receptacle to a second end in a direction of conveyance transverse to the direction of displacement of a carrier material that is provided with toner, and, dosed by of the dosing means, the toner is released onto the carrier material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In high-speed printers which print over 10 pages per minute, developer stations which process a mixture of toner and carrier particles are usually used. While the toner is conveyed onto the material to be printed, the carrier particles remain in the developer station. In these developer stations, it is necessary to feed fresh toner to the developer mixture during the print operation. This type of developer station with toner dosing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,783, for example.
In developer stations with integrated toner cross-conveyance and toner dosing, care must be taken in the cross-conveyance of the toner to enable a uniform feeding of toner over the entire printing width of the carrier material that is to be supplied with toner. Since the different toner types differ in their transport behavior, particularly in the ratio of the toner cross-conveyance amount and the toner dosing amount, complications can arise in the toner feed in a developer station with specified conveying means and dosing means. Namely, a strong setting of the toner on the toner conveyance path, or on the other hand a toner depletion, can arise on the conveyance path, which extends over the entire printing width. Both a toner compacting of the and a toner depletion result in flaws in the printed image. A multiple toner compacting leads to toner contamination due to toner lumps, a toner depletion leads to an uneven coloration of the carrier material.
The Japanese patent document reference JP 59-100472 A teaches a means for the cross-conveyance of toner. Japanese patent document JP 4-365073 A teaches a developer station in which the ratio between the rotation speed of a developer drum and the toner conveyance speed in a toner transport means can be modified.